Warrior Rising (Goddess Summoning #6)(27)

Then Kat realized that as she’d been babbling to herself no one else had been talking. At all. Achilles just stood there like a statue of himself. Agamemnon’s look was darkening and Kat braced herself for a kingly storm, when his expression suddenly relaxed and turned bizarrely jovial.

“Ah, we see why you’ve been struck dumb. You’re unused to escorting beautiful women. Imagine that the Trojans have been battling the mighty Achilles for nine years. Luckily for us they didn’t know it only took the touch of a woman to slay him.” Agamemnon chuckled cruelly and reached a hand out to stroke the young girl who sat in a scantily clad pool of gold silk on the floor beside his throne. The girl, who Kat assumed must be Briseis, was glaring at her hostilely, but she didn’t so much as glance at Achilles.

Kat could not believe what an * this guy was. And he was their king? Jerk. Bully. She seriously hated bullies. Well, as she knew from years of experience, when one was dealing with a bully it was best for one to show no weakness and to confront the * directly. Kat glanced around the room until she found the face she was looking for, and was relieved that he was one of the few men present who wasn’t laughing like a good little sycophant along with Agamemnon.

“Odysseus,” Kat said, raising her voice so that it carried over the laughter. “I was confused earlier today when you remarked on my father’s reputation for being wise and honorable and beloved by his people, as if that was unusual. Now I understand. They are traits that appear to be in short supply in your Greek rulers.”

“Impudent harlot!” Old Kalchas screeched as he popped out from behind the king’s throne. “She should be beaten for her disrespect!”

Several of the other men started shouting for her blood, too, but Odysseus’s raised hand stilled them.

“Have a care, Kalchas. Athena has proclaimed Polyxena not just under her protection, but her oracle,” he said. “Remember, I witnessed Athena gifting her to Achilles, and there was no mistaking the Goddess’s will.”

“The princess is also under my protection.” Achilles’ voice cut through the angry muttering that had begun in response to Odysseus’s proclamation. “I have no wish to quarrel with any of you,” he continued, but Kat saw that it was obvious that he didn’t look at the king, purposefully excluding him in the “no wish to quarrel statement.”

“but if you so much as touch her, I will kill you.”

Kat’s eyes went to Achilles’ face. He said it so calmly, so matter-of-factly, but his expression was implacable, and Kat had no doubt that he meant exactly what he said.

Agamemnon’s patronizing laughter cut through the silence Achilles’ words had caused.

“Oh, come now, Achilles. Save your death threats for the Trojans. Well, all the Trojans except this small, soft-looking one. After all, we’re not threatening your new war prize. It is good that you found a replacement so quickly, and such a lovely one at that.” Agamemnon smiled at her and Kat’s smarm meter went to high. “You’ll need your strength on the morrow. I was visited by Hera today, and I believe that was a sign that our victory is close at hand. Tomorrow will be a great day for Greece!”

Kat had to work not to have her mouth flop open in surprise. Hera’s visit was a sign that the Greeks were going to win the war? She could only imagine the goddess’s reaction to that news. Kat had never heard such utter bullshit. No wonder this place had given birth to the mother of all rumors.

But the men bought every word of it and shouted in testosterone-filled response. Achilles waited until the tumult had died down and then he said a single word that appeared to shock the gold-loving king to his marrow.

“No.”

Agamemnon recovered his façade of patronizing indifference quickly. “No?” He said with a sarcastic smile. “Is there a problem with the Myrmidons, Achilles? Some new sickness? I returned Khryseis, as you insisted. That stopped the darkness that had settled over our camp. Now what sacrifice do you ask of me?”

“I ask no sacrifice of you, Agamemnon. I simply ask you to fight your own battles.” Achilles pulled his arm gently from her hand and walked forward, addressing not the richly dressed old men in gilded chairs, but the young warriors who stood behind them. “Why is it that wars are talked about by old men, but fought only by young men? If I want a woman, I fight for her. If I want riches, I fight for them. If I want glory, I fight for it. I have never taken something for which others have fought and died.”

Along with everyone else in the room, Kat was mesmerized by Achilles. He wasn’t just a mindless killing machine bent on glory and fortune. Achilles was a leader of men, a king in his own right. He moved through the room until finally he was standing before Agamemnon’s dais.

“Perhaps it is time you fought for that which you would claim as yours, great king.” Unlike Agamemnon, Achilles’ voice wasn’t thick with sarcasm. It was firm and deep and honest. He held the king’s gaze easily using the truth, not demeaning tricks. “And perhaps it is time I rested. There is more to life than war.” He turned and looked back at Kat. “Today I have been reminded that Athena is Goddess of Wisdom as well as Goddess of War.”

“You cannot withdraw from battle!” Agamemnon exploded to his feet, all pretense of control gone. “I am your king and I command you to fight!”